


A New Game

by tsunderetoast



Category: Subarashiki Kono Sekai | The World Ends With You
Genre: Cross-Posted on Wattpad, F/F, Hacking, If Square Enix won't make a sequel I'll do it myself, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence, Implied/Referenced Eating Disorder(s), Implied/Referenced Suicide, M/M, Mass shooting, Nightmares, Original Character Death(s), Panic Attacks, Post-Game, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Suicide Attempt, Texting, composer Neku, hinted joshneku, it gets gay
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-11
Updated: 2019-06-13
Packaged: 2020-04-24 19:31:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 6,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19179943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tsunderetoast/pseuds/tsunderetoast
Summary: It's been about a month since everything has happened. I'm a completely new person than I was before the game. Everything's been normal, its almost as if nothing has happened. Shibuya's safe and happy. My life's back to normal. But I can't shake the feeling that something is about to happen. Something awful. I don't know what it is. I don't know who it could be. I could just be paranoid but something's wrong.





	1. Chapter 1

Feeling the sun’s hot rays on my eyelids, they began to lazily flutter open. The echoed sound of an alarm clock blared incessantly in the background. Bright yellowish light shined through the window. I reached around for the snooze button, trying to see with my blurred vision the bright red numbers. Suddenly, I felt the plastic button’s edges on my fingertips. I pressed down on it, the loud beeping then stopped. After collecting myself for a moment, I sat up in bed and stretched. When I opened my eyes, my vision had focused. Finally, I could make sense of my surroundings. Falling out of my drowsy state, something dawned on me. I could have sworn I had a dream last night. But, I don't remember it at all. Guess it wasn’t that important. Brushing it off,  I looked over to the window ledge to see my phone, it opened to show a new notification. A text message from the group chat.

 

!     1 NEW MESSAGE FROM : Shiki TO CHAT    !

 

Shiki: Good morning guys! （´・ω・ `）

_ Neku has entered the chat _

Morning: You

_ Shiki is typing...  _

Shiki: Morning Neku! Did you sleep well?

Yeah just woke up, You?: You

_ Shiki is typing... _

Shiki: I slept well! ◕‿◕ I woke up a few minutes ago 

Beat  _ and _ Rhyme _ have entered the chat _

_ Shiki is typing… _

Shiki: Hey guys! 

_ Beat is typing… _

Beat: Yo, Wattup?

_ Rhyme is typing… _

Rhyme: Hi guys!

_ Shiki is typing…. _

Shiki: Hey, are you guys free today?

Yeah I’m free today: You

_ Beat is typing... _

_ Rhyme is typing… _

Beat: yah

Rhyme: I am too, why you ask?

_ Shiki is typing…  _

Shiki: I was wondering if we could hang out today (^̮^)

_ Beat is typing… _

_ Rhyme is typing... _

Beat: yeah, im down

Rhyme: me too!

Sure, why not: You

_ Shiki is typing… _

Shiki: Great ^.^ lets meet up at Hachiko in a few

_ Rhyme is typing… _

Rhyme: Yeah see you there!

Yeah, seeya there in a few: You

  
Beat _ ,  _ Rhyme _ , and  _ Shiki  _ have left the chat _


	2. Chapter 2

It only took a few minutes to get to Hachiko, wasn’t too far from my house after all. Looking around scanning the crowds of people,  I soon spotted familiar looking black hair and round glasses sitting down at a bench looking down at her phone.

“Shiki!” I called out.

She looked up from her phone and smiled brightly.

“Hey Neku!” she chirped in reply.

Running over to her side, I caught a glance of her phone. The screen was filled with paragraphs on paragraphs of digital text.

“What’s that?” I asked curiously.

“Oh, I was just reading this article.”

“Article? About what?”

“Noosy today, aren’t we?” Shiki lightly teased with a chuckle “It’s about this really weird gene mutation.”

“Gene mutation? Weird as in how?”

“Well-”

“AY YO SHIKI, NEKU!” A new voice interrupted.  

Me and Shiki turned around to see Beat and Rhyme making their way towards us.

“Hey guys!” Me and Shiki greeted back.

I turned back to Shiki “So anyway Shiki, you were saying?”

“Oh yeah! So, they don’t really have an official scientific name for it yet, so they just call it Prodigiosus.”

“Prodigiosus?” I repeated.

“What are you guys talking about?” Beat was just as confused as I was.

“This rare gene mutation I was reading about. The name’s supposed to be in Latin, I think. I read that the mutation affects the person's natural hair and eye color.”   

“Never heard of it.” Beat crossed his arms.

“It’s super rare, less than one percent of the population of the world has it. And it’s apparently not talked about a lot in scientific communities.”

“Oh wait, I think I read about that!” Rhyme piped up. “It’s often not taken seriously in the scientific circles either, right?”

“Yeah, I think I read something about that too. Something about the condition being faked for attention I think.”

“That’s...kinda messed up.” I pitch in my two cents not really knowing how else to contribute.

Everyone else went painfully silent, so I guess my half-assed contribution didn’t help.   _Great._

After a few moments, The conversation awkwardly transitioned to talking about the latest movies and whatnot as we went around Shibuya, just hanging out and whatever. Just sorta forgetting the article somewhere along the way.

 

Hours passed, though it only felt like seconds. It was beginning to get dark, Beat and Rhyme went their separate ways as to not break their curfew. Me and Shiki began walking to the train station, as to not break ours. We took the shortcut through the alleyway, it’s always so nice and quiet.

“Hey Neku…?” Shiki asked quietly.  I could feel the hesitation in her voice.

“Yeah?”

“I have a weird question.”

“Shoot.”

She took a deep breath “Have you heard at all from…well....him?”

“Him? Who are you-” it hit me mid-sentence. The memory flashed back to him. His face, his voice, his eyes, his smirk.

HIM.

“No, I, um, I haven't”

Him… The thought lingered in my mind as we went silent.

I don’t miss him. I don’t. Why should I?

He killed me! He lied to me! But, why does a part of me miss him?

“Give up on yourself...and you give up on the world…”

The memory of his words echoed through my mind. Replying over and over again like a broken record.  

Suddenly, with a blink of an eye, I no longer saw the alleyway. Shiki was no longer with me either. Now, I was in what looked like an abandoned building, a warehouse? It was dark, I could only see what was in front of me thanks to the faint moonlight pouring in from shattered windows. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw something move softly. I turned to see what it was but it was gone. Then it happened again, I caught a glimpse of a black figure. It wasn't until then the figure stepped into a batch of moonlight that I could make out more details about them. They wore a black hoodie with baggy blue jeans and a messenger bag. Their hood was up, covering their face. The figure reached into the bag and pulled out a cell phone, it started beeping quickly, almost like some sort of tracker you’d see in spy movies. Without warning, my vision started to darken and blur out. The last thing I saw was the figure walking further into the building before everything became pitch black for a brief second.

“Neku! Neku wake up!”

My eyes shot open, I was back in the alleyway but everything was…sideways? Wait, no, I was lying on the ground? I brought myself up slowly. I suddenly felt a jolt throbbing pain reach my head.

“Neku! Are you okay!?” Shiki put her arm around my shoulder.

“What…? What happened?”

“You passed out. I turned around and you were just lying there on the ground…Are you okay? Can you stand?” Shiki panicked.

Then without even thinking, I blurted out “The warehouse”

“What?” she drew back in confusion. “Neku, what are you-”

“We need to go to the warehouse”

“Neku, what are you talking about?”

“The warehouse on the outskirts of Shibuya, we need to go there” The words fell out of my mouth without me even realizing. It felt weirdly natural.

I slowly began to stand up.

“Neku you're act really weird right now, why do we need to go there?”

Wait, why did we need to go there?

“I...I’m not actually sure, I don’t know, something is telling me to go there.”

Shiki went dead silent.

“Look, I know it sounds crazy but…”

“Alright.” She stated firmly.

“Wait, what?”

Shiki stood up.

“Let's go.”

“Wait, you actually trust me?”

She nodded, to my surprise.

“Well, Alright I guess, let's go”


	3. Chapter 3

Before we knew it, we were on the train heading in the opposite direction from where we were supposed to be going. The more stops we passed, the fewer people there were, as we headed outside of Shibuya. At our very last stop, we were the only ones left on the train. The intercom gave a chirpy chime. “This is the final destination, all passengers must exit the train. Thank you for riding with us!” the robotic female voice said lifelessly. 

We made our way towards the old warehouse without a word.

We got there a lot sooner than we originally anticipated. We stood before large iron doors at least 3 times my size. The doors were opened slightly, leaving just enough to get through. I looked through the crack, it was completely pitch black. Wait a minute, what the hell am I doing!? This is insane! But, for whatever reason, I went in. Why? I have no clue. Entering the crack, I accidentally hit my shoulder on one of the doors. The door swung open with a loud, slow creak at the impact. Admittedly, I jumped instinctively. I looked back at Shiki, she was clearly just as terrified as me.

“Shiki?” I spoke in a hushed whisper.

“Y-yeah?” her voice shook as she spoke.

“Stay close to me ok?”

“Yeah, good idea.”

The warehouse was dimly lit by the moonlight pouring in from the broken windows. Smashed boxes and broken glass littered the ground. It was dead silent for a moment, just a moment. Then, yelling. No, not yelling, screaming.

“DON’T LET HIM GET AWAY!”

Then loud metal banging, which stopped as suddenly as it started.

“YOU'RE CORNERED NOW! WHATCHA GONNA DO NOW?!”

There was a brief moment of silence. Then a loud squeaking sound followed by a loud thud. The yelling soon became more intense.

“AFTER HIM! HE’S GETTING AWAY!”

I remained frozen still. I couldn't move despite every cell in my body screaming for me to get out of there. Why did I even come here in the first place!? What the hell was I thinking!? That’s when in the midst of my internal panic, I saw it. Black hoodie, baggy blue jeans, and the messenger bag to top it all off. It was him. The person from my vision.  _But, how!?_  He was dragging something behind him. No, someone! A girl with long brown hair and a red school uniform. He was dragging her by her wrist, not looking behind them. They ran past us, but as they were making their escape, the hooded figure turned their head towards me. Was he looking at me? He then suddenly stopped dead in his tracks and stared at me. What the hell? Why is he staring at me?

“It’s you...what the hell are you doing here!?” His voice, it wasn’t human. It was glitchy and distorted. I could hardly understand what he was saying.

“Who are you-”

“THERE HE IS!”

Without warning, the dead sound became soon with gunshots. I immediately hit the ground, covering my head. They started bolting for the exit again. He gave me a quick glance before disappearing.

Before I could say anything else, Shiki grabbed my hand and we ran like hell.

We ran all the way back to the train station. We didn't dare stop till we were next to the tracks. We stopped to catch our breath under the fluorescent lights. My chest ached from running so much, I could feel my heart pounding in my head.

“What...What the hell just happened!?” I yelled while gasping for air.

“Neku...did you...know that guy?”

“No...I’ve never seen him before!”

Shiki collected herself, still breathing heavily.

“I wonder what that was all about…” Shiki sighed looking back at the warehouse in the distance.

“Hey, what time is it?” I asked still wheezing.

Shiki opened up her cellphone and gasped loudly.

“IT’S 2 IN THE MORNING!” She sputtered out in disbelief.

“WHAT!? It’s seriously that late!?”

“Oh my god, our parents are gonna kill us...!”

“Well...we’ll just say, uh, the train broke down on the tracks.”

“A...And our phones died! So we couldn’t call them or anything like that!”

“Yeah, sounds like a story, let’s stick to that.”

Not a moment to soon, the late night train then pulled into the station. We boarded and made our way home in silence. Our minds still trying to process what happened.

I walked Shiki home, in case anyone followed us.

“Well, this is my house”

“Yeah, see you.”

“Yeah, Night. Be safe getting home.” She gave me a shy little smile before going into her house.

I walked back home, alone. Admittedly, it was a bit nerve-racking. As I walked, I would occasionally think someone was following me. But when I would turn around, there was no one there, or at least I didn't see anyone. I snuck in my house through the window. Now my parents would be slightly less angry with me without the addition of being woken up at roughly three in the morning. After closing the door, I undressed and got into my night clothes. I flopped onto my bed staring blankly at the ceiling, my mind still sturring with questions. _Who was that guy? Do I know him from somewhere? Could he be Jo-? No._  I forced that thought out of my mind.  _But...Could it really be him? Could he really still be out there?_  I have no idea why but the idea of him still being in Shibuya gave me a strange sense of comfort and warmth. That thought slowly dragged me into a deep sleep as everything went dark.

 


	4. Chapter 4

The next day, we agreed to meet up in Hachiko again. Getting ready to leave, I began to question if I should tell Beat and Rhyme what happened last night. W _hat exactly would I tell them? Hell, I don't even know what happened last night. What happened last night? Who was that girl? Who was shooting at us? Who was that guy? How did he know me? Why did I see him in my dream? Could he really be-? No. Stop thinking about him Neku, he's gone. And he's probably never coming back._

I finished up and made my way over to Hachiko, trying my best to silence my thoughts for fear of thinking of him again.

Crowds of people have flooded the streets, as usual. I looked for familiar faces among the masses of people.  _Nope, nope, nope, still nope, nope, no, no, no, no, no, no, no- found em'._  As I jogged towards my friends, I caught fragments of their conversation.

"Wait...SAY WHAT!" Beat yelled suddenly.

"I'm telling you! It was insane!" Shiki exclaimed with him.

"Oh my gosh, that sounds scary. Are you two okay?" Rhyme joined the conversation.

"Yeah, me and Neku got home safe."

"I heard my name" I added walking into the circle.

"Oh, Neku, I was just telling them about last night." Well, I guess the decision was already made for me. Beat looked to me with a flabbergasted look.

"Yo! Like, she bluffin' or?"

"Nope, 100% true."

"Yo! THAT'S INSANE!" He yelled in response.

"Beat, keep your voice down, people are staring..." Rhyme tugged on his shirt.

"Yeah, it was pretty insane..." I awkwardly laughed to myself.

We started to look around in the 104 building; browsing clothes, window shopping, making jokes and laughing. It was...nice. Like we were normal teenagers. I guess I'm finally starting to get used to the whole having friends thing.

Everything was normal.

That was, until, out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of bright red.

I turned my head towards the red, it all then came into focus. Long, flowing brunette hair. Fair white pale skin. A red school uniform. And the dead give away, a pair of bright red eyes. It was her,  _the girl from last night_.  _What the hell is she doing here?! Maybe it's just coincidence, maybe she's just shopping for clothes, or maybe it's just a girl who looks like her. You know what, just don't think about it...If I ignore her, maybe she'll go away._

So I did. 

Or, I tried to.


	5. Chapter 5

I didn't mention it to anyone, didn't want to make a big deal about it. It was a coincidence, right? That was until she showed up in shops and areas we were in. When we left or entered a shop, she would do the same.  _After one shop, sure it's just a coincidence. Two? Okay, a little weird but whatever. Three shops? Ok, it was no longer a coincidence, she was stalking us. But why? Is she planning to lure me into a back alley and kill me?_  I shifted my body closer to Shiki's, making sure to establish that I wasn't here alone.

"Hey, Shiki...?" I whispered to her.

"Yeah?" She whispered back.

"Look" I pointed to the girl who was hiding her face behind a book.

"Yeah, I noticed too...I...I didn't want to say anything."

"What should we do? Should we confront her about it?"

"No, not yet...we'll make a scene."

"Yeah...you're right..."

Hours went by, she still followed. I was still deciding if she was trying to be secretive about it. If she was, she wasn't doing a good job at it. We knew very well who she was and what she was doing. I tried to ignore her, but I could always see her out of the corner of my eye. Wherever we went, there she was. That's it. I couldn't take it any longer. I had to confront her.

I took a deep breath, spun around, and walked towards her. My heart rate quickly escalated. It pounded in my head, getting louder and louder with every footstep. The loud murmur of people became like static on the TV. The passing by people became blurred silhouettes as her red school uniform came into focus. The pressure grew greater and greater, and it soon felt like my body was about to collapse under it. Now, she was right in front of me, peering into a book, pretending not to notice me. I drew a breath as I prepared to speak.

"Ah...Hey..."

She looked up from her book, I had a full view of her bright red eyes. The had a certain familiar intensity to them. I...I didn't want to look away. I was completely captivated by her gaze. Everything else drifted away, leaving me with a pair of eyes that filled me that strange sense of deja vu. For a brief second, it felt as if time stopped completely.

Then, without warning:

_Bang!_

_Bang!_

_Bang!_

People started screamed and scrambled. Lights flickered on and off as broken glass fell from the ceiling. Store alarms screeched at and deafening volume. My body quickly went numb as the fact settled in.

_I'm in the middle of a shooting._

_Oh my god, I'm going to die! All my friends are going to die!_  My heartbeat when into overdrive, It felt like it was going to explode inside of my chest.  _I'm going to die! I can't do this, not again!_ I couldn't move, I could barely breathe. Vivid flashbacks of the first two times this happened played on a loop in my head. My entire life was collapsing on itself. This was it. I'm done for.

That was until, without warning, someone grabbed me and pulled me in some unknown direction. Where? I had no idea.

I was pushed into a nearby store as the shutters on the storefront closed. Whoever pushed me in here was now gone, I was alone with only the echoes of screams in my head. It was nearly pitch black, except for some emergency lights along the sides of the stores. I cautiously walked around the store, hearing my feet hit the ground in soft taps against the tile floor. I was alone, or, at least I thought I was. A quick series of taps from somewhere deep within the darkness proved me wrong.  _Someone was here, the question is; who?_  In a panic, I quickly ran to the dressing rooms in an attempt to hide. As I was about to enter one, I saw something move in it. Every limb went stiff.  _Oh no, they know where I am._  As I moved, the figure moved with me. It got closer, and closer, and clo- wait a second. I went to the dressing room to see...

A mirror.

 _I'm a goddamn idiot_. I gave a sigh of relief before looking up. Then all sense of false security was blown away. I noticed someone in the reflection, creeping up behind me. Before I could even react, the figure wrapped one arm around my waist and cupped my mouth. I tried to scream and force myself out of their arms, but they only tightened their grip on me.

"Shhh. Don't scream..."

_Wait, that voice. N...No, It couldn't be..._

"Calm down Neku, Don't scream."

I slowly opened my eyes to look in the mirror. Two people stood in it. Myself, and him...

His ashy blond hair.

His piercing lavender eyes.

His fair skin.

It was him.

_It was Joshua._

 


	6. Chapter 6

Out of impulse, I quickly pushed myself out of his arms and swiftly turned around to face him. Him, the person who lied to me, the person who killed me. He was now standing before me.

Before I could say anything, he sighed out.

“I...Listen, I know you're not pleased to see me again. I wouldn't be either.”

“Not pleased is an understatement. What the hell are you doing here?” I gritted through clenched teeth and fists.

“Neku, you have to believe me.” He sighed out “I did everything in my current power to stop us from meeting again as well as keeping you safe…”

Safe? Safe from what!?

“What do you mean by that? What are you talking about!?”

“I have so much to explain then. Where do I even begin?”

! 8 NEW MESSAGES FROM : Shiki !

Shiki: Neku are you ok?

Shiki: NEKU?

Shiki: NEKU ARE YOU HURT AT ALL!?

Shiki: NEKU WHERE ARE YOU!?

Shiki: please respond

Shiki: NEKU PLEASE RESPOND

Shiki: oh god

Shiki: Neku please be ok

Joshua and I sat on opposite sides of the small and cramped dressing room. He began to explain everything.

“Let me start at the beginning. It all started about a few days ago. Sanae called me over to the cafe, said it was urgent business. He warned me about, what might be, some upcoming threat.”

“Threat?”

“Yes, a very dangerous one at that. We both knew they were coming for you.” Joshua looked up at me with a dark tone “And they were coming fast.”

That last sentence made my blood run cold, bone-chilling thoughts dart through my mind.

“For me…?” I muttered quietly, wondering why.

“Yeah, we found where they were stationed, but the problem was neither I nor Sanae could go. They’d recognize us immediately. So, I sent in an outside force to take out their power source. We thought that solved everything. But unfortunately, we found out they had a backup power source. We estimated that will last them a few weeks at the most. While on their mission, my outside source gathered some documents, possibly detailing what their plans might be.”

“What’s their plan?”

“It’s all still a bit unclear. From what we can get from the documents, it has something to do with coming here to ‘recruit’ players.”  
“Another Reaper’s Game?” My voice trembled as I spoke.

“That might be the case, they mention your name in the documents, specifically.”

At that moment, unbearable dread filled my body. I could feel myself shaking.

“Why are they coming after me?” I asked, not really wanting an answer. Joshua looked at me surprised.

“You didn’t know? No one told you?”

“What...? T...Told me what, Josh!? ”

“You took my place…”

“What? What the hell are you talking about!? Who is this threat? Who was that guy at the warehouse? Who the hell was that girl following me!? Why is this happening now-”

“Ugh, Do I have to spell it out for you Neku!?” Joshua took a firm grip on my shoulders. “You’re Shibuya’s new composer!”


	7. Chapter 7

_ What…? _

_ What? _

_ What!? _

_ I’m what!? _

I pushed Joshua away and backed up against the cold, hard wall of the dressing room.  _ This has to be some kind of joke, right!? This really can’t be happening, right!? _

“Josh, if this is one of your jokes, it isn't funny!” I yelled out in desperation, hoping this was just a joke or another bad dream.

“I’m not joking Neku. You are now Shibuya’s new composer!” 

That last word shot through me like a bullet, making my mind and body go numb with shock.  _ ‘Composer…’ _ My feet weighed heavy on the ground while my chest felt like a hollow husk with only a rapidly beating heartbeat echoing in my mind. 

“I’m sorry you had to find out this way…now that you know what you are, _ they’ll _ be looking for you.” 

Before I could ask who ‘they’ was, a loud ‘bang’ echoed through the store, soon followed by loud footsteps across the tiled floor. 

“Oh composer? Where are you?” a familiar, honeyed, sing-song like voice spoke. Oh no,  I knew where that voice came from.  _ It was the same voice from last night, the one who fired the gun at me and Shiki.  _

Mid-gasp, Joshua covered my mouth with his hand. “Shhh...if he doesn't hear us, he’ll leave…” Josh spoke in a soft whisper.

Suppressing the urge to scream, my heart pounding violently in my head as a female voice joined in. “Come out, come out, wherever you are!” she taunted in a cheerful tone as more footsteps fell on the tiled floor.

I tried to swallow but my mouth was completely bone-dry. A third shrill, nails-on-a-chalkboard like voice spoke: “We know you're here, little composer, hiding is futile!”

The taps and clunks grew louder and louder gradually. Joshua pressed himself closer to my body. I could feel his rapidly beating heart against mine and his body trembling with shaky breaths. “Don’t. Say. A. Word.” Joshua whispered harshly.

I practically held my breath, for the fear that one unstable breath might give us away. Then, it was dead silent.  _ Was it all over? _ A wave of relief that shot over me and Josh as he removed his hand from my mouth and we both took in a deep breath. That feeling of relief was soon shattered as the door violently flung off its hinges as the voices had exposed us. “Found you!” All three said in horrifying sync. 

Three figures stood over us as we fell to the cold, hard ground with a thud. One was a short, stubby older man with a thick, white, bushy mustache and eyebrows and an off-white lab coat. Another was a woman with blood red twin-tails, dyed dark blue at the ends. Her black lips smirked wickedly down at me as her piercing deep blue eyes filled me with terror. The third one, who stood in the middle, wore sunglasses. His skin was pale with pink scars all across his lower chest and white binding tape covering the upper half as a black long coat draped over his shoulders. They loomed over us like monsters from a ghost story that made their way to your dreams and turned them into nightmares. The expression of the man in the middle quickly changed from a devilish smirk to disgust and confusion. “Doc are you for real? This kid? This wimp?” 

He took a few steps closer to me and I quickly scrambled backwards, my back hitting the mirror and my chest rising and falling with panicked breaths. 

“I mean, look at him now…” he chuckled to himself. 

“Yes Bates, I'm sure he’s the one!” 

“If you say so doc, Now let’s have some fun with these two why don't we?” He cocked the gun and sent flashbacks piercing through my mind. The girl leaned on his shoulder, pressing her hand into his scarred chest. 

“Oh babe, why don't we just kill them now, wouldn’t that be sooooooo much easier?” Her voice was high pitched and whiny. 

“Come on Penny” He placed his hand on hers “You know we can’t do that. Plus we already got the special bullets, and we already used them on those kids” 

_ Those kids...? No, oh no. Please no.  _

“Those kids…?” I croaked out quietly, my voice quivering.

“Oh yeah, remember one of them had those funny lookin’ glasses? Ha, The look on her face when you shot her was priceless!” The girl, apparently named Penny, cackled.

“Yeah one of them tried to act so tough, trying to protect that other kid who was with him! Totally pathetic! I couldn’t stop laughing!”

_ No, oh god no.  _

“Now, now. Bates, Penny, we’re getting sidetracked. We need to get back to the task at hand.” The short man piped up.

“Yeah, yeah. Now let’s have some fun why don’t we?” Bates then cocked the handgun in his hands “Now let’s see...which one of you should I join first?” Joshua quickly attempted to thwart him, but before he could even stand up all the way up. Bate’s finger curled and Josh fell back with a loud bang. His thin body hit the tiled floor with a hollow sounding thud, along with the shell of the bullet. 

“Well, that was an easy decision. Now...” He cocked the gun again and slowly walked towards me, every step felt like the ground itself was violently shaking. I instinctively backed up against the wall. Staring him directly in the eyes, trying to mask the horror and dread that shot through my nerves like bullets. I stared down the barrel of the gun, looking into the black void that my demise was soon to come through. 

“Welcome to the game kid.” 

His finger curled with a loud bang before everything went dark.   


	8. Chapter 8

_Neku..._

_Neku_

_Neku!_

_Neku, wake up!_

I was violently slapped back into reality, a blast of cold, musty oxygen instantly filling my lungs. I instinctively began desperately gasping for air. My eyelids snapped wide open. Every muscle in my body tensed up. Taking a series of rapid breaths in and out, my fingers twitched with every exhale.

“Neku, are you alright?”

I tilted my head in the direction of the voice. It was Joshua. His hand was gripped on my shoulder, shaking, his deep lavender eyes filled with what looked like genuine concern.

“What...What happened?” I managed to grunt out, barely conscious. I brought a hand up to my forehead, carefully trying to think back. Everything soon came back to me, shooting through my mind like a bullet.

“Wait, Where are they!?” I jolted off the wall, stumbling as I ran and slammed my shoulder into the dressing room door frame. My eyes darted around the store’s darkened room, seeing no trace of them. Only a door that had been ripped off the hinges.

“I’m not sure, they were gone when I woke up.” Joshua joined me in the doorway. “Unfortunately, that's the least of our worries, Look” Joshua raised his right hand and showed me his palm. What I saw sent painful flashbacks racing through my mind like a freight train headed straight for hell. Across Joshua’s pale palm, was a timer.  _A red crimson timer._

_No. This can't be happening. This...this can't be happening! No, not again…_

We both stared at the glowing red timer for what felt like an eternity before a beep came from my pocket. I quickly grabbed my cell phone from my pocket and flipped it open.

! NEW MESSAGE FROM: Blocked Number !

Blocked Number: Welcome to a new game, Neku Sakuraba! You've been entered in my game. Here's the basic rundown of the rules: For the next few weeks, You'll be working in a team of 7 pre-selected people. Every day You'll have a mission you'll have to work with your team to do. No mission today, consider today orientation. Lucky you! At the end of the week, you'll have a challenge. 

Here are your teammates:

Neku Sakuraba

Yoshiya Kiryu

Shiki Misaki

Daisukenojo Bito

Raimu Bito

V

Akane

Now, this ISN'T the reaper's game. This is a completely new game. Also, you're not exactly dead, but you're not really alive either. You're all really in this realm of in-between. You can still see Noise and all that stuff, but normal people can see you and you can interact with them. But don't worry, normal people can't see you when you go into battle. We've selected your team to meet up at the mural in the Udagawa back streets. Hope you enjoy this game. Or don't, we really don't care. Missions start tomorrow.  
PS: Pretty please don't tell the Higher Ups about this! Thanks!

 

“V? Akane? Who the hell are they?” I muttered out loud.

“I don’t know…” Joshua said with uncertainty.

We just stood there, dead silent for a moment, letting everything settle in. We were basically fighting for our lives once again. We had another possibility of dying. We might lose our friends in the fight. It really is all happening again

“It says to meet in Udagawa” Joshua broke the silence.

“Yeah...”

“We should head over there”

“Mhmm.”

It was hard getting past all the police cars and ambulances outside, but luckily we made it past without anyone noticing us. Before we knew it, we stood in front of the mural. As we leaned against the wall, it hit me. This was where I first met Joshua. I, however, I would really like to forget that. That day when I-

“NEKU!”

A familiar voice broke my train of thought. It was Shiki, Beat, and Rhyme all walking up the steps. Shiki quickly ran up to me and gave me a tight hug. Instinctively, I hugged her back. She pulled back, grabbing my shoulders.

“Good thing we're all on the same team.”

“Yeah…”

“Yo, Joshua! Long time no see!” Beat yelled.

“The one and only” Joshua sashayed over to us.

“Ok, so like, who the hell are V and Akane?” Beat asked with clear confusion on his face.

“Beats me, I've never heard of anyone with those names...” I sighed out, sliding my hands into my pockets. But out of the corner of my eye, I saw black, all black. A boy in all black. A black hoodie, baggy jeans, and a mask with a skull that covered his face. He was talking to the girl with red eyes.  _Are they together? Do they work together?_ Then, without warning, the boy in the mask turned his head, almost as if he was looking at me.

“Hey you!” He brought himself off the wall and walked towards me. I was soon filled with panic as he quickly made his way towards me.

“You Neku Sakuraba?” His voice was heavily distorted, I was barely able to make out the words.

“I, um, Yeah…” I forced out, trying not to sound intimidated

“Oh.” He pulled out a cell phone and pressed a few buttons.

“And I assume the people behind you are the rest?”

“The rest? What the hell are you goin’ on about-” Beat yelled defensively.

“If I may intrude.” Joshua interrupted.

“I assume you two are V and Akane, Am I wrong?”

“Nope?...Spot on.” There was clear confusion in his tone.

“Fantastic. Allow me to introduce myself, My name is Yoshiya Kiryu, But everyone Just calls me Joshua, And this here is Nek-”

“Neku Sakuraba, I know.”

Joshua looks slightly offended at the boy interrupting him.

“Name’s V.” He spoke in a deadpan matter as he made a ‘V’ sign with his hands.

“And my name is Akane.” The red-eyed girl spoke with a monotone yet sweet sounding voice.

“Nice to meet you, I'm Rhyme, This is my brother Beat.”

“And I'm Shiki.”

I wasn't about to ask Akane why she was stalking me earlier today or what V was doing with Bates and Penny last night. We continued to talk about the texts we received and agreed to meet up at The Wild-Kat Cafè every day for the missions. After a while, we all went home. That night, laying down in my bed, I watched the glowing red timer on my hand tick down until it reached 0. When it did, it glowed a bright red, then changed to read ‘23:59:59’. Right as that happened, my phone went off. The notification read

! NEW MESSAGE FROM: Blocked Number !

This is it. It's begun.

 


End file.
